


All's Faire

by RedTeamShark



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Gift Fic, Incredibly Self-Indulgent Fluff, M/M, Nonbinary Mollymauk, Renaissance Faires, They're all a bunch of useless queers, autistic caleb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 09:51:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14210520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedTeamShark/pseuds/RedTeamShark
Summary: “If he likes this video, you gotta ask him out.”





	All's Faire

**Author's Note:**

> An incredibly self-indulgent fluff fic that I totally used the excuse of Zuzu's birthday to write. <3 Happy birthday!

“Caleb!” Fjord jogs to catch up with him, one hand landing on the other man’s shoulder to pause his steps, to pull his nose from the book he’s currently stuck in. Fjord drops his hand once he’s sure he has Caleb’s attention, his smile bright. “Hey, didn’t think I’d catch you.”

“Wasn’t aware I was being chased.” The book closes with a snap, bright blue eyes on his face and for just a moment Fjord loses his focus. Damn, but Caleb’s pretty no matter how scruffy he tries to make himself look. “So, Fjord, what did you need?”

“Oh, I uh… So the house is having a party this Friday, kinda a… Casual affair.” He can already see the disinterest in Caleb’s face, the eyes that wander down towards his closed book. “Not even really a party just a lot of us hanging out and having a few drinks and I was wonderin’ if you wanted to come?”

“I’m not really a… party type.” Those blue eyes won’t even meet his face anymore, tracking across the campus quad. “I’d probably only bring down the mood.”

“Caleb--”

“And I have plans.” 

He can’t argue with plans, as much as he wants to. Fjord exhales in resignation, nodding to him. “Okay. Have fun. Maybe another time, yeah?”

“Mmm.” The book’s already open again, Caleb’s nose in it as he crosses the campus toward his car.

* * *

“And I was just wondering if you’d wanna, like, get fuckin’ blasted together--no. Hey, Yasha, we should totally fingerbang somet--no… Yasha, babe! You know, I had a goth phase in middle school but mine was more Hot Topic than… Urgh, why is this so  _ hard _ ?”

“Because you are a, ah, ‘useless lesbian.’ It’s right here on your tinder profile!” Jester holds out her phone, the screen lit up with an upside down view of Beau’s old tinder profile. “All of your pictures are so pretty, though!”

“How did you even find--nevermind. I need to delete that. I… seriously,  _ how _ am I supposed to ask her out?” Beau turns from the mirror, dropping into a chair next to Jester’s bed and stretching out. “Ugh, I don’t even know how to  _ talk _ to her.”

“Maybe don’t say you want to fingerbang her. She might be into toys.” Jester beams with less than helpful advice, rolling over and off the bed to stand. “All you have to do is ask if she wants to do something with you. Like go to the movies!”

“That is  _ so _ much easier said than done, Jes’.”

* * *

He likes Yasha and Molly’s place well enough. Off campus, quieter neighborhood, no shared walls… On nights that he’s particularly overwhelmed by everything that is life, Caleb finds himself there more often than not. Molly is a little too fond of physical contact for his usual comfort, but the man can read a room and seems to know when Caleb prefers quieter company.

Friday night he lets himself in via their back door, accepts Molly’s passing forehead kiss with only a minimal flinch. He knows it’s coming, after all, acknowledges that it’s okay in some way that even he doesn’t understand, but it is. Mollymauk breezes out the door a minute later and Caleb drops onto the far side of the couch Yasha occupies, pulling out his phone as she starts up a series on Netflix.

Comfortable silence falls between them, occasional attention to the television but at this point it’s just background noise. The occasional brief clatter of laptop keys as Yasha types, too spread out to be homework. 

Caleb scrolls through his social feed, pausing occasionally to like pictures or watch videos. He snorts into his hand, forwarding one of a cat attempting to jump and failing on to Nott. She’ll appreciate it, given how she laughs when Frumpkin fails to cat.

His thumb pauses on a video posted by Fjord, cheeks tinting pink at the preview still of the other man at the gym. He presses play with the volume low, hears the general background noise of the gym as Fjord does something impressive that shows off his biceps to the camera. Beau’s voice comes over the speaker then, her words close to the camera. “You know, if you do enough reps you might be able to just pick Caleb up and literally take him out.”

“That ain’t funny, Beau.” 

“If he likes this video, you gotta ask him out.”

“You’re  _ recordin’ _ this?”

The video loop starts again and Caleb lets it play out, his face burning red. His thumb trembles slightly as he hovers over the like button, his teeth worrying his lip raw. He can’t. He  _ can’t _ . Sure, Fjord is handsome. And kind. And smarter than anyone gives him credit for. But he can’t just… If he has to, he’ll tell the other man that his thumb slipped. Easy.

Caleb likes the video and scrolls down as if afraid he’ll be caught.

A new post from Beau brings him back to the top of the page, the photo of her and Fjord at the gym.  _ Rejection Just Means More Reps _ , it’s captioned, almost as if begging someone to ask who would dare reject two people as attractive as they are.

“Hmm…” Yasha’s voice beside him and Caleb starts, sees her frowning at the same picture on her laptop screen. “You know, she has to ask to be rejected.”

“Did she ask you…?”

“Jester said she backed out at the last minute. And you were coming over anyways. Did he ask you?”

He plays the video for her instead of answering, aware of how brightly damning that ‘like’ is. No plausible deniability now. “I’m not much of a party guy.”

“Maybe he’ll invite you to something more your pace next time.”

“Maybe…”

Or maybe he should invite Fjord out sometime. Assuming he can even get the words out around the other man.

* * *

One hand holds his fork, idly spinning a fry through ketchup as his gaze focuses on the page in front of him. His peripheral catches a hand slipping onto his plate, half the fries vanishing when the hand pulls back. “How was your test?”

“It was definitely not easy.” Nott drops onto the bench next to him, her head dropping to his shoulder. “But… I did good?”

Caleb closes his book, finally eating the ketchup-drenched fry. “You studied hard.”

“One more test this week and then…” Nott stretches her arms out in front of her, head falling to the table. “Then I can turn my brain off.”

She’s one of the only people he’s comfortable touching, his hand patting her back lightly. “What about your lab practical?”

“That… doesn’t count. Because I don’t want it to.”

“Fair.” He pushes the tray towards her, letting his fries disappear into her mouth as his attention drifts back to the book in front of him. One of Molly’s saucier volumes, slipped into his backpack Friday night before he left. It’s not terrible, though the author’s fetish for ‘undulating hips’ is a bit grating to read every other chapter. At least thus far, there have been no perkily bouncing breasts. Mollymauk does have some concept of taste.

More movement fades into his peripheral vision and Caleb looks up, his mind blanking as Fjord takes a seat across from him, every word he just read suddenly replaced by the sound of Beau’s voice, low, close to the camera.

“ _ If he likes this video, you gotta ask him out. _ ”

“Hey,” Fjord starts.

“Hey.” He can feel his heart pounding in his chest.

“Hello!” Nott grins, reaching across the table and plucking the pudding cup from Fjord’s lunch tray, not bothering to take a spoon with which to eat it.

“Uh… sure, you can have that. Caleb, I… was wonderin’...” His words are so careful, so low, his gaze centered just over Caleb’s shoulder. “If you’d wanna maybe, with me, just you and me--”

“There’s a renaissance faire next weekend. Mollymauk and Yasha are working at it and I told them I’d come and see them, but doing that alone… isn’t fun. You should come with me.” His cheeks are burning bright, eyes on the table as he speaks. 

Fjord’s silence stretches out almost too long, almost to the point where Caleb is ready to get up and flee for whatever’s left of his pride. He  _ knows _ Fjord likes him, but the ren faire? Like someone like Fjord would be caught dead at something so--so--

“That’d be fun. I’ve always wanted to check out a renaissance faire.”

“It…” Caleb swallows, makes himself look up and even if he can’t feel it, he must be smiling because Fjord grins back at him. “It’s a date then, yeah?”

“Yeah. It’s a date.”

* * *

For just a moment as he steps onto the fairgrounds, Caleb feels panic well in his chest. He figured it’d be small, nearly empty. A ren faire in a college town like theirs? Not exactly a crowd-pleaser.

He was wrong. There are people milling about, some in jeans and t-shirts like himself and Fjord, some in period clothing. Someone in an elaborate costume and facepaint approaches him, hesitates a step away before kissing his forehead. “Caleb, I’m so glad you could make it!”

“Molly?” He gawks at the costume, the paint, the ease with which Molly navigates this crowd. “You look…”

“Incredible?”

“Ridiculous.”

“That’s a fair trade. Yasha’s in the smithing center and I’m due for a tarot show soon, but… wander around. Eat, drink, and be merry! This is the only time you’ll get to be medieval without risking the plague.” Mollymauk’s gaze narrows on Fjord for a moment before the grin is back. “And of course, allow your knight to assist and protect you.” With a flourish of the coat Molly is off through the crowd, several following the cries to see true magic in the hands of a true tarot reader.

“Y’know, I thought magic got people burnt at the stake back then…” Fjord watches Molly go with a smile, shaking his head and turning back to Caleb. “Where to?”

“Ah…” There are too many options and too many people in every direction. He takes a step closer to Fjord, his hand lifting, pressing to the other man’s arm lightly. “Is there anything you want to see?”

“Well, there’s Yasha in the smithing center, right? We could check that out.” He’s grateful for the idea, for Fjord leading the way through the crowd. It’s not too bad with someone to anchor him, someone to touch and block out the rest of the crowd.

The rhythmic pounding of metal on metal draws them to the smithing stands, a crowd gathered around watching as the smiths work. Fjord carefully shoulders a space clear for himself and Caleb in front of Yasha’s, his steps faltering at the sight on the other side of the wooden safety barrier. “Beau?”

“Sup, fu--I mean, greetings!” Beau clears her throat, grinning and crossing towards Fjord and Caleb. “Check it out, Yasha made me some sweet armor for the joust later.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in character or somethin’?” Fjord looks her over as she turns, nodding in appreciation. He doesn’t know anything about armor, but it does look nice.

“Probably. So, what’re you--ohhhh.” She looks to Caleb, giving him a grin. “Hey, Caleb. Having fun?”

“Mm…” His hand tightens on Fjord’s arm for a moment, eyes focused on the steady hits Yasha makes against a sword. 

“I think we are,” Fjord answers for him, leaning forward slightly on the barrier. “So, did you…?”

“She asked me.” Beau’s cheeks turn pink, her gaze darting over her shoulder. “It’s been pretty fun and… Well.” She punches his arm lightly, nodding. “I’ve been told that Molly isn’t gonna be home tonight.”

“Well, you have fun.” He turns to Caleb, gently pressing a hand to his shoulder. “What’re you thinking?”

Caleb blinks, seems to come back to the moment, to reality. He looks over to Fjord, mouth twitching into a crooked smile for a moment. “I… wasn’t thinking anything, actually.”

It’s an easy day, more comfortable as they go on, wandering across the fairgrounds to different shops, different stands. They get lunch and find a quieter spot to eat, Fjord’s hand gently brushing against the back of Caleb’s neck.

“The jousting is gonna happen soon, you wanna check it out?”

“That sounds fun.” 

Bigger crowds keep Caleb closer to him, Fjord’s arm dropping over his shoulders like a shield. “Molly was right…” Caleb speaks quietly, leaning over to Fjord’s ear. “You are my knight.”

“It’s my honor.”

The crowd cheers as the jousts begin, knights in armor running with their lances for the first round. They spot Beau in Yasha’s crafted armor, Fjord’s voice echoing out in his cheer for her. It dies down as she’s downed almost immediately, strength no make up for inexperience. She limps over to Yasha with a sheepish grin, leaning up and kissing her on the cheek quickly. 

“Well if that ain’t the cutest…”

“Yasha does like her… Was just waiting for her to come around to asking…” Caleb agrees, pressing himself a bit closer to Fjord. “Guess she wasn’t the only one…”

“Guess not.”

They don’t need to say it, don’t need to have that awkward fumbling conversation. Especially not over the cheering of the crowd as the mounted jousters take to the field, riding around in flashy fashion.

They watch the duels with growing enthusiasm, cheering as the finals begin. Caleb finds himself excited for it, his voice raising with the crowd as the winner is declared. He turns to Fjord after the crowning ceremony, cheeks pink. “We should do this every year.”

“Maybe get into costume, too, hm?” Fjord laughs, nodding and leading him away from the crowd. They make another loop of the tents, the crowds thinning down as sunset draws near. Close to the entrance they find Molly again, arms spread wide with glee.

“Don’t leave just yet, we have a spectacular display for you tonight, mystical lights in the sky from far off lands!” The disinterested response provokes rather than discourages, Molly’s voice booming. “Fireworks show at sundown!”

“Fireworks, huh? You wanna stick around for it?”

“That’d be nice, but…” Caleb shivers, wraps his arms tighter around himself. “I should have brought a coat if I’d known it would be after dark.”

The breeze has kicked up a bit, a chill in the air that Fjord has barely noticed. He’s always run warm… “I’ve probably got an extra hoodie in my car, if you wanna wear it?” They make their way to the parking lot, Fjord rifling through the trunk before pulling out the sweatshirt in question. Caleb slips it on gratefully, nearly swimming in the oversized shirt. He wraps his arms around himself, smiling from under the hood. 

“I think I’ll be okay. You sure you won’t get cold?”

“I’m sure.” Fjord clears his throat when the words croak out of him, feeling heat flush through his cheeks. “I’m usually pretty warm all the time.”

Back to the fairgrounds, directed by Molly to what are apparently the best seats in the house for the fireworks show. Caleb leans into Fjord as they sit down, his head resting on the other man’s shoulder.

“It’s been fun today…”

“Yeah, it has.”

“We should do it again sometime.” The setting sun is painting his face red anyways, hiding the deep blush. The sun slips below the horizon, a single firework shooting into the sky and exploding overhead. Around them the diminished crowd cheers, waiting on the actual show to start.

Bodies settle down near them in the dark and Fjord squints in that direction, grinning and nodding as he sees Beau wave to him. As thrilled to be with Caleb as he’s been all day, seeing her actually get to spend time with Yasha has him just as happy.

The darkened sky soon lights up again, bright fireworks of different colors, a display of light and sound. As much of an act as it probably was, Molly was right--the show is spectacular. Caleb drops his hand along Fjord’s arm, finds the other man’s hand and locks their fingers together absently, feeling a brief squeeze.

The finale turns everything to a multi-colored glow, flashes of red and blue and green across their faces as Fjord turns, tilts his head down and hovers his lips near Caleb’s. 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Their mingled breath stops as their lips touch, slow and gentle in the glow of the fireworks.

It’s a good day.

* * *

There’s nothing quite like waking up in someone else’s bed, feeling a heartbeat against her own and arms wrapped around her. Beau squirms around, leaning up and pressing a kiss to Yasha’s chin. “Hey…”

One eye cracks open, a groan from the taller woman. “What time is it?”

“Dunno, you’ve got my arms pinned down.”

The arms around her tighten for a moment as Yasha rolls over, pinning her bodily to the bed. “Better?” she whispers, dropping her head to the pillow next to Beau’s.

This does nothing to help her check the time, but… “Yeah. Better.”


End file.
